You've Got To Be Kidding Me!
by LilChicken4418
Summary: For six years, Lily Evans has been putting up with the arrogant James Potter. As she enters her seventh and final year, she sees a whole new side of James she's never known. Will her opinions change or will she always and forever hate James Potter?
1. Marauders Strike Again

Chapter 1: Marauders Strike Again

Lily Marie Evans was laying on her bed, gazing at the ceiling as a soft chilly breeze from her open window swept around her almost cradling her in a weightless blanket. She sighed heavily as she began to think about how the summer holiday had passed so quickly. She recalled spending half of the holiday with her best friend, Hallie Daniels, riding a chestnut brown horse through an open valley and spending time at the beach running and skipping among the open water. Those had been the most cheerful times of her life. But those times had quickly changed as she learned that the mischievous James Potter lived just a couple of houses down from Hallie. James had spent almost every hour that Lily remained with Hallie bugging her as usual.

She loathed James. For the past 6 years of her life, she constantly had been bickered by James, who, like many other guys at Hogwarts, had an almost painfully large crush on her. But James wasn't like the rest of the guys at Hogwarts. Most of the people were sweet and kind and would probably tend to Lily's every need if they dated her. James was an arrogant boy who, in Lily's opinion, spent too many years on a broomstick.

Lily sat up in her bed and crossed to the open window and sighed as she realized that this would be her last night at her house before she would be traveling back to Hogwarts. Lily loved school, but the idea of having to spend another entire year with James was nauseating.

Lily finished packing her trunk with the necessary materials she needed for her learning needs. Lily couldn't help be but nervous, as this was her seventh and final year of schooling and her NEWT testing would be coming up soon. Her NEWTs results would determine whether she would be able to fulfill her goals of becoming an auror. The idea of having dark wizards running about.

Lily placed her new Head Girl badge on her bedside table. She couldn't help but be curious of who would be Head Boy, as they would share the Head's Dorm. Yawning, Lily pulled back her sheets on her bed and flicked off her lamp. She rested her head on her pillow before falling into a deep sleep.

"Oh, Prongs, oh boy, what is Snivellus going to say when he sees you with that Head Boy badge? I'd like to see the look on his face, the old dust bag," Sirius stated, packing socks into his cauldron. "I still don't see what's gotten into Dumbledore. You, Head Boy? I always thought of Moony getting the name."

"Me too. I thought I had the chance of becoming Head Boy as Wormtail has of dating Evans." James replied as he gazed at his badge. "Who do you reckon Head Girl will be?"

"Isn't that obvious? Evans, of course. She's got the whole bloody staff twisted around her little finger. Wonder what she will say, though… She'll probably be appalled at the idea of you two sharing a dorm."

James smiled at this. He was going to spend a whole year sleeping within a few steps of Lily. James began to believe that this was his year. He was going to get Lily Evans if it killed him. His like of her went so deeply that he believed this feeling could turn into love.

"It's getting late," James began, "don't you think we should turn in before mum comes up here and has to wrestle us into bed?"

"Wrestling with Nicolette Potter? Hmm… Sounds very erotic!" Sirius said, grinning.

"Ew, Padfoot, that's my mother you're talking about… Let's go to bed."

James laid down in his four-poster bed which was similar to the one he dawned at Hogwarts. He was excited. A new year and a new chance with Lily Evans.

Lily woke the next morning very early as she was very apprehensive of her first day as Head Girl and as entering her seventh year. She dressed in one of her favorite Muggle outfits and ran downstairs to have breakfast before the long trip on the Hogwarts express.

"Hey mum! Hey dad!" Lily said as she reached the landing in her 3 story house. She kissed her mother, who was at the stove flipping pancakes and pecked her father on the cheek, who was reading his newspaper.

"Hello Petunia, gorgeous day, isn't it?" Lily said smiling at her sister.

"The sun isn't even up you prat! But yes, I do think this is a good day as you're leaving to your little freak school. I hope you catch fire and don't come home."

"Petunia, don't speak to your sister like that! Good of you to be quiet for once." Joanne Evans said. (A/N: Lily's mum.)

Lily rolled her eyes, seeing her sister was still going about rejecting her for what she was. She glanced at the clock. 9:30. She had plenty of time to make it to Kings Cross.

10:30.

"JAMES, SIRIUS ARE YOU UP YET?" Nicolette yelled up the stairs at her son and his friend.

James rolled over in his bed, seeing Sirius, was snoring loudly, having the blankets of his bed falling to the ground and one of his legs stuck straight up in the air. James sniggered and seized the opportunity to wake Sirius with a bang.

James grabbed his wand and flicked it over at Sirius. Icy cold water gushed out of his wand and hit Sirius in the face. Sirius woke with a start.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Sirius yelled, scrambling to get out of his bed.

James, who had cleverly stuck his wand behind his back said, "I have no idea, must have been a ghost. But come on, mum's having a fit. It's 10:30 and we're supposed to be at King's Cross about now."

"Right then." Sirius yawned, scratching his head.

The two boys got ready and had a quick breakfast before being shoved into a Ministry car that James' father, Michael, had borrowed. 10:45. In James' opinion, that was plenty of time to reach Kings Cross.

Lily kissed her mother and father before walking into Kings Cross station, pulling a trolley with her trunk and her pet owl, Snow, on it. She was quite excited for school. She was excited for the work and the exciting lessons. She loved the homework and didn't see why any other person didn't like it as much as she did.

Lily was excited for school for only a short while as she saw James Potter, who was talking to Sirius Black. That wasn't such a big deal, until she saw that he was wearing a Head Boy badge. That had to be a joke. He was only using it as a joke, right? She certainly hoped so. She did not want to spend an entire year living with him.

Whoops. She had looked over at him for too long. James broke his conversation off with Sirius. Sirius went onto the train, carrying some sort of sack and James started to approach Lily, chest puffed out as if to emphasize his badge. Lily couldn't help but notice that he had looked more muscular and his hair was done different since the last time she had seen him at Hallie's. He almost looked… "No, stop it Lily," she said to herself, "Wake up."

"Evans."

"Potter."

"I see you've made Head Girl. I'm Head Boy, you see," he said pointing to his chest, "Pretty impressive, don't you think?"

"That's a horrible joke. Don't you think you should be giving that back to Remus?"

He laughed. "Very funny, Evans. This is mine. I suppose this means that we'll be rooming! Great, huh? Excited?"

"Ecstatic." She replied sarcastically.

Sirius came from back off the train and came over to where James and Lily were conversing.

"It's all set!" Sirius whispered a bit loudly to James.

"Fantastic." James replied, grinning broadly.

"What's all set?" Lily asked.

"You'll see. You might want to move over here." James said, pointing to a spot behind him. "Crouch down. You'll thank me later."

Lily did what she was told and James put his arm around her as if he was comforting her from serious illness.

Sirius, who was crouching near the two was starting to count down.

"3...2...1...Action!"

A green, oozing type of jelly liquid was smashing it's way out of the train's doors and windows. They could hear angry shouts coming from the train and a figure emerged from the train door.

"BLACK! POTTER!"

It was Severus Snape. Sirius, James, and Lily all despised Snape for his rude gestures toward Muggle borns. They hated him, practically.

"What the hell is this stuff! It's burning like mad!"

"What're you asking us for, Snivellus? It looks like your greasy residue to me. What do you guys think?" James said, releasing Lily and standing up, putting his hands in his pockets.

Sirius and Lily shook their heads. Normally, Lily would have objected. But this was different. She suddenly felt rebellious.

"See, Snivelly, a little soap once and a while would cure this mess." Lily said, surprised at her own words.

James and Sirius looked at her disbelievingly. They too seemed to be surprised at what she had said.

"Shut up you…" Snape began, but Lily cut him off.

"Mudblood? Yes, yes, Snivellus. Getting a little childish, aren't we? I've heard it so many times to last me a lifetime that I don't give a damn anymore."

"Well thanks to your bloody friends here, I'll be spending time in the hospital wing. Of course, I'm going to point all evidence at those two." he said, pointing his finger at James and Sirius.

"How could it possibly be their fault? They don't need to monitor your cleanliness, do they?"

"It was bubotuber puss, you idiot."

"Well the two of them have been here this whole time with me talking, do you really expect them to be in two places at once?"

"Yeah, you filthy little scumbag. Do you think we have a Time Turner or something? My God, Prongs… You don't reckon we've been doing Dark Magic again?" Sirius said, putting emphasis on "Dark Magic."

"Jeez, Padfoot, I don't think we did."

"You're an absolute idiot, Potter. I'm going to blame this all on you!"

"But I have a witness." He pointed over at Lily. "And I do believe that the teachers will trust dear Lily more than they will you."

"Shut it, Potter."

Snape walked away, pushing the bubotuber puss off of his fingers. After he was far out of hearing range, Lily turned to James and Sirius.

"Did you guys seriously do that?"

"Yes, I 'seriously' did." Sirius replied, grinning.

Sirius pointed his wand at the train and said, "_scorgify!_"

"The Marauders strike again." James said, boarding the train.

Sirius and Lily followed him in and began on their quest to find their friends.


	2. New News

**Chapter 2: New News**

**(Hey Guys! I hope you guys like my ff, considering it is my first that I've ever wrote… I'd really appreciate it if you guys reviewed! Secondly, I know I mentioned in chapter 1 that James was on a quest for Lily, so the beginning section of this chapter may be confusing for you, but it will be cleared up later on.)**

**Enjoy!**

After passing a few different first year compartments and telling off of younger students, Lily finally found her friends, Hallie Timmons, Keily Sanders, and Veronica Boulvea.

"Hey guys!" Lily exclaimed, running towards them to give them each hugs.

"I missed you guys so much!" she said, hugging Keily.

"I missed you too, Lily!" Veronica said leaning forward to give Lily a hug after Keily.

"You've missed so much," Keily said. "Veronica and Hallie came over to my house over the summer, but when I tried calling you on the Muggle phone, no one answered."

"Hmm…" Lily said, "Must've been busy."

"Yea, I suppose." Keily replied.

"Do you want to hear the good news!" Veronica said, jumping up and down.

"Sure, sure, just stop jumping like a maniac!" Lily chuckled. "Tell me what it is!"

Veronica smiled over at Hallie and Keily before announcing her news.

"I'm dating James Potter!" she squealed.

Lily couldn't do anything but stare at her, mouth open wide. Lily couldn't help but feel betrayed, even though Veronica knew nothing of her recent discoveries. She was confused… What were those signs that James had been leading her on with early? Were those just one of his flirtatious gestures, or was Lily just daydreaming? Lily found herself hot with rage almost after she let the comment sink in, though she never showed it.

"Oh." Lily replied, for it was the only thing she could think of saying.

"I know, right? He's such a sweetie and I just love how he likes to snuggle up to me, no matter where we are."

Oh great. That's all she needed to know.

The rest of the time, while Veronica, Hallie, and Keily talked and gossiped, Lily read her Elite Transfiguration book, trying not to think about that arrogant, yet oh so charming, James Potter.

But halfway through reading "Human Transformations," James interrupted her by charging into her compartment. He greeted Veronica with a feisty kiss on the lips before beckoning over to Lily.

"Lily, come on, Prefect meeting! We've got to give out the passwords to the little squirts!"

"Oh, yeah, right. Let's go." Lily said, shutting her Elite Transfiguration book and walking towards the door of the compartment while waving goodbye to her friends.

Lily followed James through the chaos and after telling a few third years that launching off fireworks would land them in detention, reached the head department, where the Prefects were.

James rolled the compartment door and walked inside followed by Lily.

The eight Prefects from each of the houses sat among the seats in the compartment. There was a slight pause before James began to speak.

"Now, Dumbledore told me that Lily and I are supposed to give this ever so long speech about your duties as Prefects and all the glorious perks there are to this job and so on. But since qualified people have picked you as Prefects, I don't see the need to giving you a speech. What do you think, Lily?"

"Yeah, sure, I don't care." she responded, her head facing the ground watching a patch of cat hair move as the train made a sharp left turn.

Lily had the right to be mad at Veronica, didn't she? I mean, the least she could have done was tell her earlier. She was frustrated, no doubting that. It felt weird to her that she was upset about James dating Veronica. It felt like the only thing the two were looking for was lust. That was one thing Lily didn't want. She wanted commitment and somewhere she believed that James could provide her with that. It was crazy, yes, but she still had belief that it could happen.

"Alright then," James announced before pulling a few envelopes from within his jacket.

"These are the envelopes that contain your houses passwords for the entire year. Loose this envelope and the title you hold as Prefect will be forever jeopardized. Just imagine who could get into your house if they found the passwords and the trouble you would be landed with. Understand?"

"Yes." they all chorused.

James handed out the envelopes and then turned to Lily.

"Have anything to add?" he asked.

Of course she had things to add. But, she was feeling like those duties in which she was to perform were not important. What was important at the moment to Lily was being mad with all hell at Veronica.

"No." she replied, "Except that everyone needs to behave this term and have lots of fun."

James eyed her oddly as all of the Prefects began filing out of the head compartment. It was unlike Evans to give out a speech examining the whole outlook of the school's rules and being very careful to miss out on a single detail.

"Maybe it's just first day nerves." he said very quietly to himself as he watched Lily leave the compartment.

James sat down on the nearest seat, which was still warm from where the Prefects had sat. He rested his elbows on his knees and buried the palms of his hands into his face. He was tired, but not just from Sirius living with him. James felt stressed and a bit depressed at his life.

He had believed that Veronica and a little bit of shagging would make him happier, but it wasn't. The sex was boring and brought absolutely no please to James. He knew what would actually make him happier and that thing had been denying him for almost 6 years now. The something he desperately desired was Lily Evans.

But that amazing feat was damn near impossible for James. Over countless attempts to get Lily to like him over the past years, nothing had even came close to the state of "like."

Flashback-

It was the first day of Hogwarts James had ever encountered. He had heard many stories about Hogwarts from his older sister, Cecilia.

Cecilia and James were inside of Platform 9 ¾ , holding hands and talking

"Ok James! Today's your first day of school and don't let your nerves set in or else you'll end up chucking your breakfast all over that pretty girl standing by Tyler." she said, pointing over to a spot near the Hogwarts Express.

James looked and saw a short girl, probably his age, with flaming red hair that was tied into an elegant sort of bun. Her eyes were a color he described as "between grass and emeralds." She was pulling a trolley with her trunk and a white owl upon it.

"So James," Cecilia said, interrupting James' observations, "obviously you've found the train. I have to go to the head department with Tyler and give the speech for the Prefects. Think you'll manage with finding a seat?"

"I'm a Potter." he responded, "I believe I'll manage. Have fun at your meeting."

"Alrighty then, kiddo. See you later! Please make some friends, James dear. I'm sure you'll have no problem." Cecilia told him, smiling and then messing up his hair.

She kissed him on the cheek and walked away, waving. He waved back, before dropping his trolley off with the train crew. James looked for the red headed girl, but she was nowhere to be seen. Disappointed, James boarded the train.

He quickly observed the crowds of young witches and wizards, trading their Chocolate Frog Cards and playing games of Exploding Snap. While all of this was very amusing and pleasing to him, he really wanted to find that red haired girl.

He began walking through the train, but never once had he found her. He walked the entire length of the train before coming to the last compartment. This was the place the girl was, at least he hoped.

James pulled back the door to find a group of kids sitting and talking about Quidditch. There was the fiery red haired girl.

One of the boys stood up to shake James' hand.

"Hello. My name's Sirius Black."

"Hi, I'm James Potter."

James observed Sirius. He was about the same height as himself, shoulder length black hair. His face was tanned and his body muscular.

"These are my friends." he said, pointing towards the rest of the group.

"Peter Pettigrew."

He pointed to a short, stubby boy whose stomach seemed too large for his pants.

"Remus Lupin."

Remus Lupin looked slightly sick and his skin was pale. He was a very skinny boy whose puny arms could be seen from his tank top.

"And this is Lily Evans."

The red haired girl. James had gotten another chance to glance at those beautiful green eyes before she stood and held out her hand.

"Hello." she said, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Lily, as Sirius has already informed you. We were just discussing Quidditch and eating some Cauldron Cakes. Would you care to join?"

"Love to." he said before sitting in between Sirius and Lily.

"So," Sirius said, "which team are you supporting?"

"Fulhum Bobcats, for sure. They're a bloody brilliant team."

"Yeah, that's because they've got those new Cleansweeps that are fast as hell." Sirius replied.

"They're not as fast as they claim to be." James shrugged.

"How would you know?"

"Because I own one."

"Liar!" Sirius remarked. "What do you think, Remus? A potential liar?"

"Oh, I dunno. Depends if he can support his case."

"Fine, fine." James said, "I'll show you."

He stood up and pulled out his wand, twenty five centimeters, cherry oak, made with a single Unicorn hair, and held it in the air.

"_Accio broom!_"

After he said his incantation, his Cleansweep made a whizzing noise before landing before him. Sirius' eyes were wide, but when compared to Lily's looked miniscule.

"But… But… But…" Lily pointed.

"Yes, Lily?"

"You just did a summoning charm! That's a fourth year Charm spell! Where in the world did you learn that?"

"I dunno, just looked through my sister's old spell books and gave it a try."

"That was amazing… You must be quite powerful! I can't even do a simple levitating charm!"

"I wonder why." A foreign voice came from the compartment door.

It was Lucius Malfoy, a seventh year Slytherin who had a rep for possibly becoming a Dark wizard. James and Sirius both glared at him, as both families knew the Malfoy family, except for different reasons.

"Get away Malfoy, go shove off and find some other bloody Slytherin to talk to."

"No, Black, don't think I will. Now, back to business. It seems to me that this Mudblood cannot do this incantation because either A) She is stupid B) She is incapable of reading or C) She's a Mudblood. It seems that all of these reasons are true. What do you think, Potter?"

Malfoy turned to James, giving him an evil glare that could start a fire. His eyes were piercing into James, burning them like a marshmallow over open fire. James couldn't do anything but allow Malfoy to pierce the evil venom into his eyes. As Malfoy deceased his activities, James managed to spit out a couple of words.

"I think you're just as pitiful as your father, Damien. He was a weakling, you know? Well you probably wouldn't know seeing as my father killed him before you were even born. I guess the trait was passed on."

"You'll be repaying for that, Potter. One of these days when I actually feel like doing something unimportant in my life."

Malfoy left, shattering the glass of the compartment door. James fixed it with _Reparo!_ before returning back to the group and finding Lily in tears.

"I'm sorry he did that to you, Lily. He's an idiot. You can always depend on me if you need protection. I can always help you if you need it so don't be afraid to ask." James said, comfortingly as he sat next to her.

She stood up quickly and looked James in the eye.

"You know, I don't need your help. I think I can manage by myself and I don't need you to baby-sit me!"

"I'm sorry, I just thought that… I just thought that…"

"What did you think? That I'm a little weakling? Well you thought wrong! Thanks a lot James Potter, you inconsiderable prat!"

She walked out of the compartment and turned right, to find another location to sit.

"What I'd do wrong?" James asked the group.

Flashback over-

James shook his head and took a deep breath. Ever since that first day of school, Lily Evans seemed to be annoyed and bothered by James' natural ability of help and assistance. It had bothered James so deeply, as James really just wanted her to feel safe.

But that was six years ago. And from that point six years ago, James had tried his best to become friends with Lily and get to know her. He hadn't found out much, but had found himself to have an extreme liking for her. She was smart, pretty, and social. (that is everyone besides James.) James loved her will to learn and her feisty attitude she carried with her.

But, he had to focus on the current time period. He was with Veronica, pretending to be happy. He was Head Boy and a member of the Marauders. His NEWTS would be coming up this year and he had to focus on his career to be like his dad: an Auror.

James stood up and walked back, following the trail that Lily had followed earlier, back to the compartment where his friends were.

**((A/N: Hey, I hope you guys liked itI'm going to try and write as much as possible... But my term is ending soon and I have lots of exams to focus on! I'm taking my GCSEs way later than everyone in Britain, seeing as I'm American trying to get into a British college... But anway, I'm hoping to update next week!))**


	3. Professor Dumbledore's Announcements

**Chapter 3:Professor Dumbledore's Announcements**

**((Ok, the whole thing about Lily and James is that James was so stressed and a bit depressed of not being able to have Lily that he desperately went to some other person who he knew would accept him for who he was. Veronica is simply an extra comfort to James. So James still wants Lily, but he uses what he has to work with to his own needs.))**

**I'm so sorry this took so long- I have been so stressed lately and have hardly had time to breath. I'll try to update as much as possible, but exams are coming up soon and I'm a bit nervous… Sorry for the wait!**

James walked back to the compartment where he had found Lily in earlier. He found the Marauders and the girls sitting around, talking about Quidditch.

"Bulgaria has absolutely no chance of taking the cup this year! Everyone is saying that France will be the one to take it!" Sirius said, tossing a few Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans into his mouth.

"That's what they say, Padfoot. Haven't you remembered the new Irish line up? My cousin, Sean, is on the team playing chaser. Bloody brilliant, he is out on the field." James said as he took a seat in between Veronica and Lily.

"Oh please, and let me guess- Your family owns the oh so popular wizarding band Chopped Pumpkins?" Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Well actually, my mother-"

"Ok, Prongs, we understand." Remus said.

James looked over at Lily while everyone was still bragging over their favorite Quidditch teams. Even though she was bickering and fighting, he still thought she looked as beautiful as she did when she was in dress robes. He turned his head to look the other way, over at Veronica. She was adjusting her lip gloss and frowning as she ran the fingers of her free hand through her hair. To James, she looked utterly stuck up and snobby. Veronica was all for herself and didn't really care about anyone else.

The eight Gryffindors sat around their compartment, discussing their summers and their expectations of the new school year until they reached their destination- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

James and Lily waved hurried good-byes, as they had to reach the castle first to make sure the students were safe and under control after they had finished decorating. They got into the Heads' carriage while the other students were still sorting about the station.

James looked over at Lily, who was twiddling her fingers and looking down at her feet.

"Something a matter, Lily?"

"No, nothing at all." she lied, not looking at James.

"Are you sure? I mean the way you acted at the meeting made me wonder if you were feeling alright."

"I'm fine." She snapped a bit lippy before adding, "Sorry."

"It's ok." he said, drifting off.

There was a brief moment where Lily and James met eyes before looking elsewhere.

"So I heard about you and Veronica." Lily stated, breaking the uncanny silence.

"Yeah." James spit out, as it was the only thing he could think of to say.

"Congratulations." Lily said, frowning slightly.

James nodded his head, recognizing her support.

"Do you like her a lot?" Lily asked, turning a pale pink color.

"She's alri- I mean she's great. One if a kind, definitely. But she's absolutely nothing compared to what I could have with…"

"With who?"

"Nothing. No one."

Lily sighed before opening the carriage door, as they had reached the entrance of Hogwarts. She climbed out, followed by James, who was feverously messing up his hair.

They entered the Great Hall together before quickly magicing the tables in their correct spots and decorating in appropriate decorations.

"Shame this is the last time we'll ever experience the great warm feeling of a welcoming feast, don't you think?" Liliy said, placing the staff table.

"Yeah. I'm certainly going to miss this place." James sighed, setting plates on tables in sets of ten.

Just as Lily had finished setting knives, the sets of second through seventh years began pouring into the Great Hall and sitting at their own House table. Lily and James stood near the staff table, over looking the students and making sure they were on best behavior.

Lily saw Hallie, Keily, and Veronica filing into their seats at the Gryffindor table. She waved at the three. Hallie and Keily returned the wave, but Veronica blew a kiss. Lily looked over at James who had returned the kiss that Veronica sent.

From the staff door on the right, entered Professor Dumbledore followed by the rest of the staff. He ushered Lily and James to go and sit down now, as their work was completed.

Lily sat next to James and in between Sirius. Lily had never been too partial to Sirius, as he always was making pranks at her, which caused her to become a bit upset with his behavior.

"Welcome, welcome to the start of the new year! This year is going to be very interesting and I'm sure that everyone will find this year one of their hardest yet. We should start off the celebration by welcoming and sorting the first years to our school."

The doors of the Great Hall opened and in came a trail of students, led by Professor McGonagall. They all crowded in front of the House tables and the staff table.

Dumbledore began talking about the rules and Filch's list of things that were not allowed in the school.

Then, it hit Lily like a lightening bolt. She and James had forgotten to set out the sorting hat.

"James, James!" Lily hissed, hitting James on the arm, while he was talking to Veronica. "We forgot all about the sorting hat! We better go and get it while Dumbledore keeps talking."

"No need to go and get it, Lily. We can always just use the Summoning Charm. _Accio Sorting Hat!_"

The sorting hat flew from the entrance doors and landed on the stool that was placed in between the first years and the staff table.

Dumbledore concluded his speech and sat down.

Professor McGonagall faced the first years and pulled a scroll of parchment out from within her robes.

"Now, when I call your name, please come up here and sit on this stool to be sorted. The sorting hat will be placed on your head and your house will be decided."

The sorting began with "Aaron, Michelle" and ended with "Zylcox, Mathew."

Dumbledore stood once more, to address the students again.

"I have an announcement to make. Over the past twelve years, the Ministry and I have been putting together a special organization in which some of the seventh year students will be traveling to different parts of the world, in order to learn about the ways other foreign schools teach their pupils. Now, when I call your name, would you please stand up and come over to the area between the staff table and the house tables."

Dumbledore straightened his robes and looked out among the sea of students before clicking his fingers together and making a scroll appear.

"James Potter."

James shrugged his shoulders and walked to the spot Dumbledore had indicated, hands in his pockets.

"Sirius Black."

Sirius gave a small whoop into the air before joining James and giving him a high five.

"Lily Evans."

Lily smiled and stood up next to Sirius, feeling a bit relieved that she was one that was picked.

"Samantha Moss."

A very pretty Ravenclaw that Sirius had liked since third year joined the group.

"Veronica Boulvea."

Lily rolled her eyes before looking at James, who didn't even smile. Sirius, on the other hand was looking quite pleased that Veronica was chosen, along with Samantha.

"Steven Taylor."

A dreamy looking Hufflepuff joined the line of students and shook Veronica's hand, whose eyes were large and round.

"These six students have been chosen to participate in the international trade of students. For the first half of the school year, the students will be away from the scene. Some will be in Beauxbeautons, the French school, others in Durmstrang. Only the brightest and most brilliant students are allowed to attend. As only six from each school is allowed, it was a very difficult decision to make."

Dumbledore turned and pointed his wand at James and Lily before saying "_Accio!_"

Their Head badges were stripped from their robes and Dumbledore caught them in his hand.

"Since you two will be gone for the first half of the year, your badges will be handed to some other worthy students until you will return."

Dumbledore flicked his wand again and the two badges were zoomed towards another set of students, Hallie Daniels and Remus Lupin.

"Congratulations, Hallie and Remus." Dumbledore clapped.

"So, on further notes, it is in my instructions that the six of you chosen students prepare for tomorrow, as you will have a long journey. Mind you, there is a meeting after dinner if you would like to know the conditions of your expeditions."

The rest of the school and staff began to clap before the six students returned to their seats.

Veronica, James, Lily, and Sirius were all congratulated on their success as students before platters upon platters filled the tables with scrumptious looking food.

Sirius rubbed his hands together and licked his lips before pulling the nearest platter of bangers towards him.

The Gryffindor ate their welcoming feast in a festive cheer, having people stop by occasionally to congratulate James, Lily, Veronica, and Sirius on their news.

After many of the platters had been left empty, Dumbledore dismissed the students back to their dorms. Sirius, Lily, Veronica, and James waved good-bye to their fellow housemates before meeting Dumbledore concerning the trips.

All six of the seventh years stood upon Dumbledore, their mines flowing with curiosity and excitement. Lily couldn't help but be just a bit scared. It was rare occasions like these that Lily began to think of all the things she would be risking or giving up. Lily was actually looking forward to spending time with her friends and exploring the foreign territories.

"Alright, as I have already stated, you are the brightest students in this school and I must pressure you to impress the students and staff. The Ministry has been preparing this whole trip for quite some time now and you all should not let them down."

Dumbledore looked directly at Sirius and James before directing himself back to order.

"Now, I will be telling you of your location and what your trip criteria and ideals shall be. Mr. Black, Miss Moss and Miss Boulvea shall be studying at the school of Durmstrang. You will learn the aspects of what the Professors are trying to teach and how they teach them. You are in for a very difficult road, facing many obstacles as Durmstrang is quite different from the Hogwarts you know of."

Sirius rolled his eyes. Nothing was difficult to him, for he was Sirius Black.

"Now, as you figured, the remaining group of students will be attending Beauxbeauton in France. That is Mr. Potter, Mr. Taylor, and Miss Evans."

Steven smiled at Lily, who returned the smile politely. Steven smiled at James, who returned a glare.

"You will find that Beauxbeautons is a very, very advanced school in both Transfiguration and in their Charm work. You all should do very well there. Your objective is to figure out the traditions that Beaubeauton Professors use in order to strengthen your own studies here at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore paused and took a deep breath.

"Now, I advise you all to go to bed, as you will be waking at the crack of dawn. And I mean, literally. Good night."

Dumbledore turned with a sweep of his robes and walked out of the Great Hall.

Samantha and Steven were the first to leave the Great Hall. Sirius proceeded to talk to James.

"Man, can you believe the nutter! Splitting us up? That's crazy talk, that is!"

And then Veronica got into the picture.

"I know, seriously! How am I supposed to have snog session with James if he's so far away from me? It's just not fair! I think we should complain to Dumbledore and change the arrangements!"

"No, we can't." James spit out a bit quickly, before recovering. "I mean, it's been extensive work and we can't go against what has been said. It's for the best. Besides, Lily is really good at Charms and I think she would be upset if she was cheated out of learning new techniques, am I right?"

"Yes." Lily said, with a slight snobbish attitude.

There was no way Veronica would be spoiling her time with James.

Veronica gave a bratty little "Uh!" before storming out of the Great Hall. James did not follow her, but stuck around to walk back up with Sirius and Lily.

They began talking about what they expected of their trips and arranged a system to exchange letters and keep in contact. James and Lily dropped Sirius off at Gryffindor dorm before heading up to the Head's dorm for the first and last night for quite some time.

James said the password to a beautiful Asian woman before climbing through the portrait hole. Lily followed, before gasping at how wonderful the common room looked.

It was in maroon and gold, the Gryffindor colors. A large stone fireplace was surrounded by two arm chairs and a sofa. Beyond this were two spiral staircases, twirling in opposite directions.

Lily followed James up the first staircase, which lead to one of the bedrooms, Lily's bedroom. There were books stacked on a corner of a desk. Maroon fabric hung over Lily's large four-poster bed. The window of her room looked over the entire Quidditch pitch and part of the lake. Stars were in the sky and Lily admired the view for a minute before going out of the room to find James' room.

James' room looked almost the same as Lily's, except his desk was covered with books on Quidditch and books about being an Auror. Lily wasn't sure what those were for, but thought nothing more of it.

The two went downstairs to find their bathroom. The bathroom, in James' opinion, was like heaven. There was a huge bath, which looked to be made of marble. In the bottom of the bath was what looked like jewels and bits of diamond.

The two returned to their common room to find two packages lying on one of the tables. One package was addressed to each of them. They opened them, Lily finding a Time Turner and James, an Invisibility Cloak.

Within Lily's package contained a note that read:

_Lily-_

_Use this wisely as it will be an aid in your life. This may be a sort of life support that can reverse what is wrong into what is right._

_Albus Dumbledore_

Lily stood puzzled. What did it mean 'an aid in your life'?

James' package also contained a note, his a bit more personal than Lily's.

_James-_

_Please, no more sneaking into the library for a bit more studying- unless you have to. I have discovered what is hidden within this school and have a funny feeling you will too._

_Albus Dumbledore_

After James finished reading his note, he looked up to see Lily starring at him.

"You got an invisibility cloak. That's really interesting… Those are quite rare, aren't they?" she said, her voice a bit unfocused and unclear.

"Yes, you got a Time Turner, I see."

"Uh-huh, it's a bit odd though, what Dumbledore said in my letter."

"What did it say?"

"It said that it is like a life support and will reverse what is wrong into what is right. That's unusual, don't you think?"

"Yes, sounds a bit threatening if you ask me."

"I know." Lily said, before dragging off.

James looked Lily in the eye. Her eyes were no longer sparkling, but looked a bit confused, sad, and even a little angry.

"Are you okay, Lily?" James asked, with total concern.

"I'm not sure."

And with that, Lily turned to her staircase before descending away.

James stood in the common room for a brief moment before following her.


End file.
